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Conor McGregor is only a few weeks away from the richest fight of his career and is now supposedly going to speak to Congress about extending the Ali Act to MMA Fighters. Congressman Markwayne Mullin has been told by Conor McGregor’s team that McGregor is going to go to Capitol Hill and advocate for passing a bill that would help give greater transparency to the financial information in MMA in order to better protect MMA fighters.

The Ali Act was passed in 2000 and is designed to help protect fighters through financial transparency, tighter regulations, and help maintain the integrity of the sport. One of the cornerstone parts of the Ali Act is that it protects fighters from “coercive contracts.” Other key parts are aimed to separate promoters from the managerial process of the sport. Boxing has rankings determined by independent commissions and promoters are not able to have a “direct or indirect financial interest in the management of their fighters.

Ringside Analysis:

UFC COO Lawrence Epstein gave commentary on the article written by Telegraph Sport. Epstein says that the UFC exceeds any requirements when it comes to the health and safety of fighters, which is certainly true. The UFC uses USADA for testing for performance enhancing drugs in athletes, which boxing as a whole does not, (Although some fighters require that their opponents undergo extensive testing with USADA) and the UFC has invested millions into a new performance training center near corporate headquarters in Las Vegas to help reduce the number of injuries that fighter sustain during training.

On July 10threports hit the web that the UFC sold for $4 billion making it the biggest transaction in sports history. For perspective, the Los Angeles Clippers were sold for $2 billion. The only sports entity that is considered to be in the neighborhood of a $4 billion valuation is the Dallas Cowboys. What differentiates the UFC from the Cowboys is that the team in Dallas is a part of a larger organization. When one owns the UFC they nearly own the entire sport.

Below is a summary of information and insights I have onto the possible future of the new WME-IMG UFC covering the new roles of the owners, the business acumen of the investors, the marketing power of WME-IMG, what the purchase means to athletes, what global expansion will look like, what the new revenue streams are, and what the biggest risk is to the sport: